Star Wars has come to Stormwind and Orgrimmar! Around 5:30 pm PST, the guards in Stormwind were equipped with blue lightsabers (Very Light Sabre) and the guards in Orgrimmar were equipped with orange lightsabers (Teebu's Blazing Longsword).

Zarhym

These aren’t the guards you’re looking for...

Some sort of force awakens in both factions!

We figured we'd pay homage to a galaxy far, far away that has long been near and dear to our geek hearts. ;)

Stop by Stormwind or Orgrimmar to pay respect to your guards and appreciate their exotic new weapons. They won't be able to maintain the unfamiliar technology for long!

Star Wars References in WoW

With Star Wars: The Force Awakens opening, here's a look at some Star Wars references in WoW:

Power Converter is a toy you can pick up from Toshley's Station quests. The "technological terror constructs" is a reference to how Vader describes the Death Star once, and "The next best thing to going to the Academy" is a reference to Luke staying behind with Uncle Owen instead of going to the Academy. The quest Picking Up Some Power Converters also references Luke saying "But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!"

R-3D0 is a tribute to C-3PO and R2D2. When you speak to him, he'll say "I AM FLUENT IN OVER TWO LANGUAGES: DWARVISH, GNOMISH AND THE VERY COMMON TONGUE OF HUMANS. BUT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE SAYING."

Warlords of Draenor Digital Deluxe Items Return

Blizzard

While the Digital Deluxe edition of Warlords of Draenor is no longer available (blame the Burning Legion), we know some WoD players might still be interested in snagging the digital items that came with it—including the Reins of the Dread Raven mount and Dread Hatchling pet. Well, here’s another chance: we’ve created a special bundle that includes all of the Digital Deluxe bonus items, which you can purchase now for a limited time.

These Warlords of Draenor–themed extras for WoW, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and StarCraft II will be available for purchase until the pre-patch for the upcoming Legion expansion—after which point they’ll be sealed away into the vault. Please note that in order to purchase, you’ll need an active WoW subscription and a Warlords of Draenor standard edition or higher license on your account. Once purchased, these digital items will apply to all World of Warcraft accounts on your Battle.net account.

Guilds

Guild Challenge completion credit for guild groups in dungeons and raids are now only awarded when completing current-expansion content.

To offset this change, Guild Challenge completion credit no longer requires Dungeon Finder to queue for the dungeon. This means guild groups can now complete Mythic dungeons for Guild Challenge credit. Additionally, the gold awarded for all Guild Challenges has been increased by roughly 50%.

Recent Ban Wave

Blizzard

We’ve recently taken action against a large number of World of Warcraft accounts that were found to be using third-party programs that automate gameplay, known as “bots.” As a part of this action, we have removed various currencies and inventory from these accounts including, but not limited to, gold, PvP currencies, and gear. The penalty for those identified as repeat offenders has also been increased.

We’re committed to providing an equal and fair playing field for everyone in World of Warcraft, and will continue to take action against those found in violation of our Terms of Use. Cheating of any form will not be tolerated.

If you believe that you’ve encountered a player abusing a bot, exploit, or cheat, please let us know! You can do so by using the right-click report functionality in the game, and/or by emailing information to hacks@blizzard.com.So, here's the thing.

Through various studies (conducted both here at Blizzard and by other companies/groups), and by monitoring player behavior, we've discovered that suspensions are actually more effective than permabans for preventing repeat offenses by the same people.

There's some really interesting sociological hocus pocus behind it, but from what I understand, the TLDR is that if a botter gets permabanned, they'll often just buy a new account and go right back to botting. However, if we only suspend them -- meaning, they'll get their account back later -- they're less likely to buy a new one. Furthermore, once they do get their account back, they're EXTREMELY unlikely to bot again.

I'm not a psychology expert, but there's something about "I'll get this account back later" that leads more of these sorts of people to give up their botting ways than if their accounts had been permanently closed. It's kind of fascinating (at least I find it to be).

Side note: please avoid referencing bot programs directly by name, you're only making it easier for people to find them!

Comments

Comment by Sonatras

on 2015-12-17T16:51:54-06:00

There are some more references you could add :)For example, the level 2 class quests for gnomes, they all award some nice Star Wars themed weapons, such as the Death Star for Rogues, the Very Light Sabre for Warriors, the Electro Staff for Monks or Mages, the Staff of the Force for Priests and the Vibro Knife for Warlocks. Let's hope the Hunters will get a new Blaster with Legion. Another nice reference is the Kessel Run. There are probably many more, but these are the ones I remembered.

Comment by Arraya

on 2015-12-17T16:54:35-06:00

I think I'm the only one who didn't go watch Star Wars on release T_TEdit: Nevermind :P

Comment by Tyuriwen

on 2015-12-17T17:03:55-06:00

Omg thank you guys so much for featuring my Pepe hat! :) The Force will always be with you guys <3

Comment by Grindelwaldo

on 2015-12-17T17:04:31-06:00

Side note: please avoid referencing bot programs directly by name, you're only making it easier for people to find them!

People are not idiots.

Furthermore, once they do get their account back, they're EXTREMELY unlikely to bot again.

Nope.

(blame the Burning Legion)

Ok, Legion sucks!

We’re committed to providing an equal and fair playing field for everyone in World of Warcraft,...

"...but we will manage to turn it into a disaster eventually."

we've discovered that suspensions are actually more effective than permabans for preventing repeat offenses by the same people.

Milking when required.

Comment by perculia

on 2015-12-17T17:09:10-06:00

There are some more references you could add :)For example, the level 2 class quests for gnomes, they all award some nice Star Wars themed weapons, such as the Death Star for Rogues, the Very Light Sabre for Warriors, the Electro Staff for Monks or Mages, the Staff of the Force for Priests and the Vibro Knife for Warlocks. Let's hope the Hunters will get a new Blaster with Legion. Another nice reference is the Kessel Run. There are probably many more, but these are the ones I remembered.

Thanks so much, I'll add them in!

Comment by JDailey

on 2015-12-17T17:38:34-06:00

Greatly increased the spawn rates of quest objectives for the following Winter Veil quests: What Horrible Presents!, Grumpus, Menacing Grumplings, and Where Are the Children?

Oh yeah they did. Kill Grumpling and two spawn in it place. They are like Gremlins now.

Comment by MelchiahAlex

on 2015-12-17T17:39:40-06:00

Side note: please avoid referencing bot programs directly by name, you're only making it easier for people to find them!

People are not idiots.

Rest of quote, blah, blah, blah....

If you're that bitter about everything you're just as free as the rest of us to not play.

People bot, people complain about bots.

Blizzard announces more attempts at stopping them, people complain about bots and Blizzard.

So, what you're 'perfect solution' then, since nothing so far seems to meet with your approval?

Comment by lolcakes

Comment by Lyzoldas

on 2015-12-17T18:11:16-06:00

I believe Archbishop Benedictus from the instance "Hour of Twilight" is supposed to have similarities to Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious), and his quote "There is no good. No evil. No light. There is only power!" being a part of that.

I remember seeing like 5 Star Wars references during those instances but it's been so long that I don't remember what the others were.

Comment by Dudash

on 2015-12-17T18:48:17-06:00

I believe Archbishop Benedictus from the instance "Hour of Twilight" is supposed to have similarities to Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious), and his quote "There is no good. No evil. No light. There is only power!" being a part of that.

I remember seeing like 5 Star Wars references during those instances but it's been so long that I don't remember what the others were.

Sounds more like a reference to Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone:

"There is no good and evil, there is only power.."

Comment by Enril766

on 2015-12-17T18:49:01-06:00

Wish i still had my Argent Avenger :(

Comment by lonesamurai1

Comment by Anjack

on 2015-12-17T19:43:29-06:00

Little annoyed that the collector edition/digital deluxe edition mounts and bonuses are up for sale again. Why not just make them store mounts available all the time then? What makes the collector's edition "special" anymore besides the mouse pad, art book and soundtrack?

Comment by Enril766

on 2015-12-17T20:10:02-06:00

the box :P

Comment by Jahovenaught

on 2015-12-17T20:35:02-06:00

Wish i still had my Argent Avenger :(

Then you should pick up the Spellfire Longsword off the first boss in Normal / Heroic Slave Pens.

Comment by Raynre

on 2015-12-17T20:55:19-06:00

Well, since this is my first Christmas with a proper guild, I WAS going to act as Santa this year and wrap presents for everyone.

Turns out that, not only can you not wrap stackable items (coal, food, booze, flasks, runes, etc), but bags and other craftable gear give error messages as well.

And to top it all off, the finished package isn't even mailable.

What the heck's the bloody point!

Comment by notsuoh

on 2015-12-17T22:57:58-06:00

“There is no good and evil, there is only power and those too weak to seek it.”

― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Comment by Interest

on 2015-12-17T23:29:42-06:00

I am rather enjoying this reference.

Also,

Side note: please avoid referencing bot programs directly by name, you're only making it easier for people to find them!

People are not idiots.

Considering this was likely in direct response to people in the thread...

Furthermore, once they do get their account back, they're EXTREMELY unlikely to bot again.

Nope.

Considering the high level of accountability botters are being held for, I disagree. Also isn't the banwave even harsher this time (6 months + account is stripped of stuff)?

we've discovered that suspensions are actually more effective than permabans for preventing repeat offenses by the same people.

Milking when required.

Blizzard financially benefits more by permabanning accounts. The reason is they make money from people opening more accounts, which is likely to be a more or less immediate reaction for players since they know they won't get their old account back. Therefore, permabanning is a very short-sighted solution, almost as much as if Blizzard were to "milk" the bot accounts for money by not banning them at all and just taking their (probably illegally acquired) money. Furthermore, this sort of punishment is likely to cause at least some affected players to become vengeful or otherwise upset enough to continue their botting habits to "stick it to Blizzard."

In the case of a rather lengthy, but temporary ban, players are more likely to wait until their accounts become unbanned instead of opening another one. There is no sense of finality here for first time offenders, but a 6-month ban + account strip is very high on the penalty volcano, meaning it's essentially one step away from a permaban. That looming feeling of being permabanned if another toe is put out of line is all the rule-breaking accountability that's needed. For a time this sort of decision loses Blizzard money since they won't be getting any for 6 months from the affected accounts, not to mention these people are less likely to start a new account. In the long run, Blizzard will win out, but more because the game's state is healthier due to fewer botters as opposed to "milking" players.

Also, note that in the same post, Lore mentioned that repeat offenders are getting hit harder, likely with a permaban or something even more significant than 6 months, reinforcing my point that the 6-month punishment is essentially the final warning that says "seriously, don't do this."

So, what you're 'perfect solution' then?

I'll answer this one.

As someone who's been also playing Old School Runescape, which has a far worse problem with bots to the point banwaves happen on a weekly/bi-weekly basis, botting cannot be completely fixed, but it can be reduced dramatically by:

Reducing the tedium of monotonous busy work players have to do. This isn't so much about reducing the length of the grind. Instead, make the grinding itself fun by incentivizing it and adding what appears to be enjoyable gameplay (requires extensive testing and work). Example: Gathering in itself can be considered boring busy work, so why not make it feel faster then work on a way to make it an enjoyable experience through surveying and experimenting with mechanics, etc?

Reduce the relevance of bot work by making it less efficient in numerous ways. One of the ways bots, especially in botfarms in particular, are known to make a lot of gold is farming low level instances. However, instead of (just) nerfing low level instances (this has already happened, after all), make other activities more profitable by comparison, specifically adding mechanics to trip up the bots if applicable (examples: knockbacks, randomized ground-based hazards, etc).

Increase the frequency of banwaves. Avoid using permabans when possible. This will make Blizzard's actions seem more magnanimous since it shows they don't give a damn if the botters are paying their sub fee - Blizzard just wants them gone without brutalizing false positives and giving newcomer botters a chance to reform. It might also help to discourage bot development, since even though software development by the masses is likely greater than that employed by Blizzard, said masses would have to keep up with Blizzard's ability to detect and ban bots at a more demanding rate.

I can probably think of some more ideas, but that's what I had in mind at the moment.

Comment by simpetar

on 2015-12-18T01:52:50-06:00

Surprised Asphyxiate is not mentioned here :) Its animation, description and effect are all kinda obvious. So many times I had to resist the temptation to make macro "/cast Asphyxiate /s %t, I am your father!"

Comment by Grifforn

on 2015-12-18T03:54:20-06:00

Why is the Horde equipped with lightsabers of the Dark Side?Blizzard should stop thinking of the Horde as the mean guys.